


sometimes pain is like a storm

by ohmytheon



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Catelyn as a Baratheon, Gen, pre-got
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-18 08:19:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9376445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmytheon/pseuds/ohmytheon
Summary: Life at Storm's End comes to a screeching halt for Stannis when Robert comes back to visit and announces that he has betrothed their sister Catelyn. Needless to say, things do not go as well as planned. (AU in which Catelyn is a Baratheon, Robert is still an ass, and Stannis must accept losing someone else in his life.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, out of all the ASIOAF/GOT prompts to get me back into writing for this fandom again, I was not expecting it to be something like this. Honestly, I’d never once considered an AU like this, but the moment I got this ask on tumblr, I became intrigued and then, with my time freed up, a bit of inspiration struck. So congratulations to not only convincing me to write ASIOAF fanfiction again, but also something not in a Modern AU. This felt…a lot more natural than expected. I actually had a lot of fun writing this, but then I’ve always loved writing about the Baratheons and Catelyn. This would be set about two years before Robert’s Rebellion.

Catelyn had the fiercest frown that Stannis had ever seen. Despite her diminutive stature, fair skin, and delicate nature, he had known his sister’s frown to make grown men cringe and look away. Not even Robert, who was as loud and abrasive as they came, could match her. He could scowl up a storm when he was angry, which came often than not now that their parents had passed, but it was nothing compared to the silent fury that Catelyn conjured with a single downward drop of her lips.

What power, Stannis wondered, did Catelyn drawn her anger from?

It must’ve been the sea. Much like the storms that would rage across the sea and lash against Storm’s End, Catelyn’s anger would come at any notice. It hit out of nowhere, beating against and smothering them, though she was never as loud as the storms. No, that was Robert, who raged about the castle like thunder whenever he came to visit from the Eyrie, or even Renly, whose cries were louder than the wind. No, Catelyn’s anger was the rain. It swept over them, relentless and full of suffering, an undeniable fury that could be quiet even at its worst.

Stannis was by no means big - he had not gained the burliness that Robert had grown into in his teen years - but he was tall at least. Catelyn had apparently been the only one of them to not inherit the Baratheon’s trait of height, although Renly was still in the growing process and much smaller than her at only three years of age. However, when Catelyn’s anger rose to its peak, she looked as tall as any of them. She seemed to loom over all of them when she was like this and was powerful, even when Stannis realized after that she had been standing on something and using her skirts to hide it.

Whenever Catelyn was in one of those moods, Stannis couldn’t help but freeze and stare at her with wide, blue eyes, unable to look away from her. She demanded attention and it was given to her, like it was her right. It was a very Baratheon thing of her, something made even more awing by the fact that she was the only girl. That didn’t seem to stop her though. The person who her anger was directed towards, if there was one, would shrivel up on the spot under her frown and glare alone. He was lucky that he was very rarely the target, as the two of them were extremely close.

Robert, on the other hand, was not so lucky.

As the Lord of Storm’s End after the death of their parents, it was up to Robert to perform many lordly duties, most of which he left to anyone that wasn’t himself. That left either Ser Harbert, their castellan, or Maester Cresson, but typically fell to Stannis to finish. He was only a year younger than Robert, but felt both less equipped and more capable than his older brother, who had been groomed for the position of Lord of Storm’s End. As the second son, he had been taught all the same things, but not in the same capacity. Besides, it didn’t feel nearly as good to do a job he knew he would get nothing for in the end.

If it wasn’t for his twin, Catelyn, he surely would’ve drowned under the weight of his own insecurities. He did not have Robert’s boisterous persona or his bold confidence. He had concerns and worries and an unsure future without his parents. It would be up to him to secure things that his parents would have performed before. And he had siblings to take care of and a castle to mind while his brother had adventures, played in the Vale, and sired bastard children everywhere he went. It did not seem fair to him at all.

But what truly did not seem fair - what seemed downright monstrous - was when Robert came back to visit Storm’s End to announce idly over dinner that he had managed a betrothal for Catelyn.

It was something their parents would’ve done, had they not been too focused on finding a wife and princess for Prince Rhaegar under the command of King Aerys, but after their deaths, it had fallen to the wayside. Robert has his own betrothed in Lyanna Stark, the only sister of his best friend, Eddard Stark, a pretty Northern girl of Winterfell. Catelyn’s and Stannis’ own futures had been uncertain, but they’d pushed it aside in place of other things. Stannis did his best to run a lord’s castle and Catelyn did her best to become a lady mother to their infant brother. Neither one of them had been prepared for the jobs, but over the past few years, they had become satisfactory.

There were times when the two of them were tired from their lessons and daily chores, but would have a moment to themselves. Renly with a maid or Cressen and Stannis a moment of reprieve, they would sneak off to the beach where they could walk through the sand and frothy, dark water barefoot, Catelyn holding up the skirts of her dress and giggling and Stannis finding rocks and skipping them on the waves. Like children again. Stannis would talk about the technical details of sailing and being a captain on a ship and Catelyn would tell fanciful stories about the sea that didn’t seem real.

They didn’t talk about the true future. To them, Storm’s End was their future. It felt like it would never end. This was their life, their world, their everything. They would grow old together, Catelyn teasing the way Stannis’ ears turned red every time a girl looked his way and Stannis pointing out that Catelyn grew nails twice as sharp if a boy so much as tried to touch her. Renly would grow up to be a kind, loving boy in a kind, loving castle, the way their parents would’ve done it. Of course Robert would come back one day - he was the lord of Storm’s End - but “one day” seemed so far away on those days on the shore.

Until one day was today and then the reality of their situation crashed around them.

The awful part was the casual way Robert had mentioned Catelyn’s betrothal - like it was nothing, like it didn’t matter, like she didn’t matter - in the middle of dinner, just a side note. A little, “Oh, I also managed to get our little Cat betrothed, if you can believe it,” in between large bites of a greasy turkey leg before moving on to tell a story about a very attractive barmaid that he’d come across on the way to Storm’s End. Stannis had nearly dropped his fork while Catelyn took a sharp intake of breath and stilled so suddenly that it was as if she’d been turned into a statue by a witch.

Versed as he was in the mannerisms of his sister, Stannis knew what that sudden stillness meant: it was the calm before the storm. And judging from the darkening look on her face, it was to be a fearsome one indeed. Instinctively, Stannis moved to hold Renly, who had never seen his big sister like this. He adored her with every inch of his being and looked to her for everything, so Stannis was afraid that Renly would be fearful of this other side of his sister that he didn’t know existed.

“You had me betrothed?” Catelyn asked in a quiet voice. It was so placid that Stannis almost gulped.

Robert kept eating like he didn’t notice. How did he not see the warning signs? “What-? Oh, yes, I was able to fix it up a few weeks back. Took a bit of finagling, but I can be a very charming and convincing fellow.”

Catelyn’s lips twitched into a frown. It wasn’t the scary one yet, but it was getting there. “Without telling me? Without even asking what I thought?”

“Sister, please,” Robert sighed, like talking about this wasn’t worth it. He wouldn’t understand though. He didn’t realize what this meant or what this betrothal was doing to them. Stannis felt a flash of fury of his own and even more resentment. Robert was taking Catelyn away from not only him, but also Renly. What would they do without her? How long did they have? He loved his little brother, but he knew little about child-raising. Suddenly, he wished that he’d paid attention to Catelyn more and vowed to do so from here on after. “I’m the Lord of Storm’s End. It’s my duty to see you betrothed. Stannis as well, but it was easier to find a match for you first. It helps that you’re very pretty. Those Baratheon genes came in strongly in you.”

In more ways than physical, Stannis knew, but Robert was not here as often as he should’ve been. He wasn’t as present in their lives. Perhaps it was for the best, as Catelyn’s true rage only came about when Robert was around. The two of them butted heads more than Stannis and Robert did, if only because Catelyn had the gall and wit to stand up to their older brother.

“But you didn’t even talk with me about it!” Catelyn insisted. Her voice wavered for the first time. Stannis was surprised to hear notes of hurt in them, not just anger. She wasn’t only mad; she was also upset. That made Stannis feel a bit distraught and he wished he could step beside her to comfort her. She would only shrug him away from right now though. Later, when Robert and Renly was gone, when they could be alone, she’d allow him to see her pain, but only some of it, he thought. She was good at hiding. It was what women did, she told him.

Robert fixed her with a hard look with what he thought was his Lord look. It may have worked on others below their station, but not on Catelyn or Stannis themselves. They knew Robert too well and grown up alongside him. “It is not your decision, Catelyn; it is mine. You are not the Lord of Storm’s End. Do you think father or mother would’ve asked your permission to betroth you?”

At the mention of their parents, Catelyn bit her lip, but she did not wither as Stannis would have. He liked to think that they would’ve at least spoken with her about a betrothal before setting it up, but in the end, Robert was right in that she did not necessarily have a say. Stannis thought that a terrible thing. He would be able to give his input when the time came for his own betrothal.

“Will I be allowed to meet him before I’m married off?” she asked.

“Of course,” Robert huffed. “I’m not letting my sister marry a man who is a complete stranger.”

Catelyn set her knife and fork down, probably so she wouldn’t think to use them against him. “Just a man of only your choosing who I have never met before.”

“I went out of my way to get the best possible match for you,” Robert said, jabbing a fork in her direction pointedly, which made Stannis flinch but not her. “It wasn’t easy. You’re known for your difficulties and stubbornness. Luckily, you’ve already proven yourself fit to raise a child, you’re exceedingly well-groomed and versed, and you’re not hard on the eyes. You should be grateful.”

“Grateful,” Catelyn echoed, strangely hollow, reminding Stannis of the way the wind howled throughout the castle at night during a particularly rough storm.

Robert bit into his food and nodded his head viciously. “ _Grateful_.” He swallowed his food, his focus back on something else. “Don’t fret. It won’t happen yet. You’re only five and ten. I convinced them to give you a few more years so that you’ll be - ah, what was it? - better equipped to bear children. Besides, I want Renly to be more independent by the time you leave.”

It was a miracle that Catelyn didn’t explode in that very moment. If it wasn’t for Renly being in the room, Stannis was most certain that she would have. He pictured her picking up her plate full of food and throwing it at Robert, furiously howling at him, her blue eyes flashing dangerously. He saw Robert’s stunned face, gravy slipping from his beard to his lap, as Catelyn raged at him. All the while, Stannis would’ve done nothing but saw there and watched the terrible scene unfold. It was always best to wait out a storm than try to wade in it, lest you get caught up in the violence. He’d learned that from experience.

Instead, Catelyn’s lips twisted into a frown. Slowly, she stood up from her seat, her fists balled at her side, her eyes never once leaving Robert, who would not be able to ignore her no matter how hard he tried.

“You are a despicable, loathsome creature, Robert Baratheon,” Catelyn spat in a cold voice. She was swelling up, somehow getting larger than all of them. It helped that both Robert and Stannis were still sitting while she was standing, but Robert was so tall and broad that it sometimes looked like he could make up two of Catelyn when he was standing. Now though, he looked very small and like a boy of six and ten than a lord or man who had sired two bastards already.

Robert thickly blinked up at her, like he didn’t know what to say. Their sister was good at rendering people speechless, whether out of the kindness of her actions, cleverness of her words, or fury in her temperament. Stannis wondered if he would ever be able to learn that or if it was something that you had to be born with. Robert was excellent at captivating and inspiring people as well. Maybe they’d inherited all the skills with words from their parents and left him with none.

“I pity Lyanna Stark, as you do not have a caring bone in your body,” Cately continued fiercely, dragging Robert to the lowest depths of the sea. “If you were so concerned with Renly’s upbringing, you would at least visit him on his name day. I should be grateful? You should be grateful for all that we have done in your absence. Stannis does a thankless job and performs thankless duties that are not even his own without a single complaint that he will get nothing in return for his loyalty. I have been raising our little brother as my own before I even had my first moon’s blood and retaining the support of your people in the Stormlands for you when you return. You are nothing but a selfish braggart who only knows how to whore, drink, and fight - and not even that well.”

For a moment, a heavy silence fell over all of them. The only thing that could be heard was the crackling of the fire. Even Renly, who was quite talkative for a three year-old and would babble on for hours if allowed, was completely silent. He clung to Stannis in a way that he only ever did Catelyn, looking up at her with wide, confused eyes. Catelyn never spoke badly about Robert in front of Renly, leaving only a glowing version of him in Renly’s mind, and to see her speak to Robet in such a way was probably shocking. She tried not to speak ill of people in general, but she and Stannis would occasionally swap frustrations and gossip here and there.

This was not speaking ill or even being rude. This was…degrading, downright insubordinate, and so very unlike her.

“I’m sorry, but I shall excuse myself from dinner,” Catelyn said in a tight voice. “It appears that my brother selling me off like a cow has ruined my appetite.”

She turned sharply on her heels, the skirts of her black and gold dress swirling around her, and then started for the door. She hesitated once there, ruining the dramatic effect, but it didn’t seem to matter to her. She twisted partially around, but did not look at either Robert or Stannis. Instead, she held out a questioning hand, one that could be turned down if so desired, but then Renly immediately detached himself from Stannis and ran to her. She picked him up with ease, allowing him to bury his face to hide his sniffles in her shoulder, and then left the room, the door slamming behind her on its own.

Robert winced. Stannis did not. He glanced down at the tightly held silverware in his hands and forced himself to loosen his grip. He hadn’t even realized what he was doing until now.

“She’ll come around,” Robert said, possibly to Stannis, possibly to himself. One couldn’t be sure.

Stannis didn’t want to say it out loud, but he didn’t want Catelyn to come around. He wanted her to keep fighting and fighting until Robert gave up and called the betrothal off. It was ridiculous, of course. He knew, just as Catelyn did, that she would have to marry and leave one day. It was just that… Now that it was happening, they would never be able to ignore it completely. Things would never be the same. Robert would go off back to the Eyrie, have his fun, and do whatever he did while Stannis and Catelyn would stay here at Storm’s End, the weight of their future pressing down on them. It would be a wedge - Stannis could see that now - that would drive them apart in some ways.

Why couldn’t she stay here? With him and Renly? With the castle and their people? Did Robert not care about her at all? But then, securing a good betrothal for her meant that Robert was looking out for her, even if she didn’t like it right now. Later on, it would count for something and she might even be grateful then as he told her she should be now.

“You didn’t even tell her who it was,” Stannis finally said. “You just…sold her off to some nameless person to a nameless place. Of course she’s mad.”

Robert glanced at him. “Would it have mattered if I told her who it was?”

When Stannis frowned, it didn’t have near the same effect as when Catelyn did. It came off as more disgruntled than angered. “No, I guess it wouldn’t.”

“She’s too worked up over it right now,” Robert sighed, leaning back in his chair. “I suppose I could’ve talked it over with her first - at least written her - instead of springing it on her like that, but it wouldn’t have gone much better.”

“This is her home,” Stannis pointed out. His brother nodded his head, his eyes faraway. Stannis couldn’t tell if he was paying attention to him or not, but continued anyways. Catelyn always told him that he let his insecurites hold him back. “She’s probably scared too.”

Robert barked out a laugh. “Scared? Our terrifying sister? I think not.”

“Some things still frighten her.” Like being on too small of a ship. Their parents had died on a large vessel, but the wobbliness of smaller ships scared her. Spiders made her squeal in fear and run off, but snakes did not. Blood didn’t phase her one bit, but if Renly ever got sick, she flew into a frenzy. Robert didn’t know the small things about her that Stannis did. “You’ll be back at Storm’s End by the time she’s married, won’t you?”

“Sure, sure, of course,” Robert replied, but now his voice was faraway too. He was thinking about something else.

Stannis took a deep breath and forced himself to finish his dinner. He’d bring something to Catelyn later, as she had eaten very little, and she would deny being hungry but would sneak a few bites anyways. Maybe she would want to talk about it; maybe she wouldn’t. Stannis could do little but listen, but it felt as if the walls were crumbling around them. A storm was brewing and it felt every bit as dangerous as the one that had sank their parents’ ship in Shipwrecker’s Bay. All he could do now was watch and wait.


End file.
